The
challenge
Bollywood
is
all
set
to
hit
back.
And
how!
A
couple
of
years
back
when
Season
One
of
Indian
Premier
League
(IPL)
Twenty20
cricket
competition
kick
started,
not
many
were
prepared
for
its
might.
In
fact
the
only
film
which
succeeded
in
a
major
way
despite
the
onslaught
of
the
cricket
matches
was
Emraan
Hashmi
starrer
Jannat.
Yes,
the
film
was
well
made
but
its
success
was
also
primarily
due
to
the
fact
that
this
film
from
the
house
of
Bhatts
dealt
with
match
fixing
and
betting,
something
which
was
quite
contemporary
at
its
best.
However,
Bollywood
pretty
much
realised
that
with
matches
beginning
from
4
PM
in
the
evening
and
wrapping
up
around
11
PM
in
the
night,
it
was
futile
to
bring
any
new
releases
in
theatres
while
the
tournament
was
on.
This
is
the
reason
why
in
2009
there
were
no
biggies
announced
in
the
duration
was
IPL
was
scheduled.
It
was
a
different
matter
that
this
time
period
also
saw
the
stand
off
between
producers
and
multiplexes
which
led
to
a
total
draught
of
movies
in
theatres.
However,
it
was
quite
clear
that
even
without
the
strike,
no
filmmaker
with
crores
riding
on
his
project
would
have
dared
to
bring
it
up
in
theatres.
Comments
an
insider,
"Yes
there
was
this
waiting
period
but
then
it
only
led
to
double
trouble.
First
and
foremost
there
was
no
software
made
available
to
theatres
which
means
that
Bollywood
wheels
stopped
moving
for
a
couple
of
months,
hence
bringing
the
incoming
of
any
revenue
whatsoever
to
a
complete
halt.
It
was
a
standoff
of
the
worst
kind
as
let
aside
A
grade
projects,
even
B
grade
films
opted
to
wait
in
the
wings.
Secondly,
soon
after
the
closure
of
IPL
(and
subsequently
the
producers'
strike),
there
was
an
avalanche
of
film
release."
A
bad
phase
It
was
the
survival
of
the
fittest
(and
the
biggest)
due
to
which
road
was
cleared
first
for
biggies
like
New
York,
Kambakkht
Ishq,
Luck,
Love
Aaj
Kal,
Kaminey,
Life
Partner
from
June
till
August.
This
was
followed
by
a
total
break
down
of
machinery
as
an
entire
backlog
of
smaller
and
medium
budget
films,
which
would
have
otherwise
released
during
the
period
of
stand
off,
started
jostling
for
space.
"It
was
a
really
bad
phase",
continues
the
insider,
"Things
took
a
turn
for
the
worse
as
regardless
of
the
anticipated
(poor)
fate
of
their
products,
filmmakers
started
releasing
their
films
in
piles.
It
wasn't
a
matter
of
two,
three
or
four
films
releasing
in
a
single
week.
The
average
stood
at
half
a
dozen
films
a
week
for
number
of
weeks
in
succession
and
it
wasn't
a
surprise
to
even
the
makers
that
not
many
out
of
them
managed
to
survive
even
beyond
the
first
weekend.
Flops
and
disasters
were
the
order
of
the
day
and
it
took
a
Wanted
to
bring
industry
out
of
a
slump."
However,
the
damage
had
been
done,
quite
a
few
filmmakers
had
turned
broke,
industry
(which
had
already
lost
hundreds
of
crores
due
to
IPL
and
strike)
lost
a
lot
more
over
the
three
months
gone
by,
many
actors
came
back
home
with
their
dreams
shattered
and
Bollywood
in
general
struggled
to
survive
from
its
darkest
phase
of
the
current
decade.
The
fight
back
This
is
the
reason
why
things
seem
to
be
taking
a
turn
for
the
better
this
year
with
Season
3
of
IPL
already
on.
Bollywood
has
smartened
up
and
it
is
not
allowing
itself
to
be
exhumed
in
the
manner
of
the
year
gone
by.
It
is
making
best
use
of
the
six
weeks
made
available
for
itself
before
IPL
concludes
and
biggies
start
making
the
round
of
theatres
once
again.
However,
smaller
and
medium
budget
films
aren't
willing
to
be
steamrolled
later
in
the
day
when
audience
would
have
a
choice
to
pick
between
the
top
stars/banners
and
them.
So
let's
have
a
dekko
at
how
Bollywood
release
calendar
looks
as
of
now.
With
the
fickle
nature
of
the
industry,
this
could
pretty
much
go
through
a
modification
in
weeks
to
come
but
as
of
now,
most
of
the
films
mentioned
are
confirmed
for
arrival
on
the
said
date,
hence
summing
up
to
be
an
astonishing
30
odd
releases
in
March
and
April!.
Contd...